With the rapid development of information technology and of the electronic industry, consumer electronics are now evolving from one generation to the next on a regular basis. Some notable examples of such electronic products are digital still cameras, digital recorders, smart phones, digital game consoles, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and digital file players. These electronic products are available not only in a variety of types but also at more and more affordable prices, so that consumers can take advantage of, and enjoy the tremendous convenience brought by, the plethora of functions of such products.
The constantly evolving consumer electronics have also brought about a “digital” way of life. In particular, with the maturing of applicable techniques, it has been common practice to record, store, and transfer text-based information, image-based information, audio signals, or information having specific functions (e.g., user identification) in digital format. Currently, electronic cards such as memory cards and SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards are widely used in the afore-mentioned consumer electronics as an information storage medium to facilitate exchange of digital information between electronic products. In order for an electronic device to access the information stored in an electronic card, the electronic device must be equipped with a card connector or connected with an external card reader so as to realize proper electrical connection between the electronic card and the electronic device. As electronic devices nowadays are made increasingly smaller and lighter, miniaturization of electronic cards and card connectors is a must. Also, the card connector of an electronic device is typically configured as a card insertion slot to facilitate connection with electronic cards. This is because a slot-type card connector allows a user to insert an electronic card into an electronic device without having to open the housing of the electronic device. What needs to be solved next is how to facilitate the removal of an electronic card inserted in such a card connector.
Please refer to FIG. 1 for a schematic structural diagram of a conventional push-push connector. This connector includes an insulating seat 11, a sliding block 13, a resilient element 14, and a positioning pin 15. The insulating seat 11 is formed with a receiving space 111, a track groove 112, and a positioning track 114. The insulating seat 11 has an inner bottom surface corresponding in position to the receiving space 111 and provided with a plurality of signal terminals 113. The track groove 112 is adjacent to a lateral side of the receiving space 111 and proximate to the rear end of the insulating seat 11. The positioning track 114 is located at the front end of the track groove 112 and configured as a generally heart-shaped annular track, wherein the annular track consists of several track sections that have different heights and slopes. The sliding block 13 is disposed in and slidable along the track groove 112 and is laterally provided with a pushing portion 131 that extends into the receiving space 111. When an electronic card C (e.g., a SIM card) is inserted into the receiving space 111, the pushing portion 131 is pushed by one end of the electronic card C, and the sliding block 13 is thus pushed toward the rear end of the insulating seat 11.
The positioning pin 15 has one end connected to the sliding block 13 and can be driven by the sliding block 13 toward the rear end of the insulating seat 11. The other end of the positioning pin 15 forms a positioning portion 151 which is curved toward and movable along the positioning track 114. While the sliding block 13 is being pushed, the positioning portion 151 can press against different parts of the positioning track 114 to enable card insertion or ejection.
However, the card insert/eject mechanism of the push-push connector described above still has its drawbacks. First of all, the card insert/eject mechanism has low structural strength. More specifically, the connection between the connector and the electronic card inserted therein is not secure enough. The electronic card may be automatically ejected when the connector is subjected to external impact. Should it happen without the user knowing it, the electronic card may simply get lost. Moreover, the positioning pin, when moved along the positioning track, is very likely to get stuck in the track or come loose, thus hindering card insertion or ejection. As the connector is installed in an electronic device and is open to the outside only through the card insertion slot, it is difficult to perform maintenance work on the connector. In fact, the electronic device must be opened in order to troubleshoot the connector, which is extremely inconvenient. Therefore, the issue to be addressed by the present invention is to provide a card connector of higher structural strength so that not only can an electronic card be securely connected to the card connector but also the card connector itself is less prone to malfunction.